


Good Weather for Ducks

by everyours



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: F/M, M/M, amanda knits sweaters for spock because its cold on earth, au where they are a semi-functional family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:22:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21958813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everyours/pseuds/everyours
Summary: haha, what if your mom made you handknitted sweaters..... and i stole one..... and we're both cadets...... and then we fall in love... that'd be silly.... unless?
Relationships: Amanda Grayson/Sarek, James T. Kirk/Spock
Comments: 10
Kudos: 224





	Good Weather for Ducks

“Mother.  
This is the 132nd message I have sent you since I began living in San Francisco. In your last message, you asked for, and I quote directly, “Something fun, Spock!”  
So;  
The number 132 is the sum of all the different 2 digit numbers made from its digits. 13 + 32 + 21 + 31 + 23 + 12 = 132.  
Is this fun? I have attempted to make it relevant.  
It has been raining for the past 7.48 hours. I have been told that this is “good weather for ducks”.  
I don’t understand what that means.  
This week I have been continuing my work on………”

Originally, Amanda was the one to knit her son jumpers. Knitting had turned into a pastime while she was left alone in their house on Vulcan. With Spock now at the academy and Sarek often away on diplomatic business she had plenty of time alone. Sure, she had her work and routinely joined her husband on diplomatic missions, as well as meeting up with her friends she’d made on Vulcan. But, sometimes schedules didn’t line up and she was left by herself. For so long, Amanda had devoted herself to raising her motley collection of children, it was strange to her that she had nothing associated with them to work on. 

The hobby started after mentions of the weather conditions in San Francisco frequently increased in Spock’s messages home. Of course, he’d never complained, merely stated the facts; that it had continued to rain for the fifth day in a row, and that when the cloud coverage dissipated, the temperature would drop further. Amanda had married a Vulcan and raised her half-Vulcan son, she knew how to read between their flawless logic. Her son was cold, and that was not acceptable.

Of course, she knew that there were plenty of places on Earth where he could get warm clothing. But she missed him. This was a way of telling him this, but perhaps without him fully understanding. Amanda loved her children, and her husband, but she was also incredibly far away from the place she’d called home for so long. It was a way of paying homage to that.  
So, Amanda taught herself how to knit. She utilised their computer, so that it would count her stitches, let her know where to put in lifelines, and instruct her where to knit and where to purl. Admittedly, her creations never came out looking quite as she expected, but they were functional. She was sure to tell Sarek this, as he warily eyed the first hat she’d made. Yes, that _was_ a hat. The ones that weren’t functional, well, they never saw the light of day.

The clack of needles during the evening brought her a sense of comfort. It was a relic of Earth, a strange sort of tradition that tied together both her past and her present. She wondered what her ancestors would think of her. Carrying out the same actions as them but on an alien planet far from what they ever could have imagined. 

That’s how it started. Her husband never seemed to show interest on the few occasions she’d worked in his presence but Amanda didn’t take offense. Sarek loved her and loved the humanness of her - though very few would be able to tell this, and he’d never admit it with words. But, he also would not deny that he understood every Earth custom she partook in.

Sarek was in complete control of his emotions and so, was not ‘surprised’ when one evening his beloved wife handed him a partially knitted garment (it wasn’t clear what it was meant to be) and told him to get going. Despite not being surprised, Sarek wasn’t completely certain what was going on either. When he said as much, she explained – while continuing to knit another item – that both jumpers needed to be finished soon and she wouldn’t have enough time to finish them both without help. Therefore, it was only logical for him to help her, as Sarek had just returned from a week long conference on Jura VI and not currently engaged in a task. He reasoned that what he had planned to do with his evening was not urgent or as important as spending time with his wife.

Humans require socialisation in order to function properly and it would be inadequate for Amanda to suffer any discomfort or harm, Sarek justified to himself. He would always do anything in his power to protect her well being. And so, Sarek also learnt how to knit. Steadily, his skill level increased, though at the beginning he couldn’t understand why he kept dropping stitches. And why the seams had lumps in them. He also suspected his wife was laughing at him over this confusion.

Over the next few weeks it was a semi-regular occurrence for the pair. Amanda worked on the jumpers when he wasn’t present but whenever they had a private evening, they continued in each other’s company. It wasn’t fruitless as Sarek would fall into a light meditative state when doing do, which allowed his mind to contemplate and rest while he carried out the repetitive task (with occasional changes as the computer dictated). He also allowed the bond he shared with Amanda to come to the forefront of his mind and it remained there as he carried out the strange Earth custom with his wife by his side.  
It occurred to him, once they’d finished both garments, that they would never be needed on Vulcan- a hot desert planet wholly unsuitable for the unbreathable, woven fabrics. Amanda smiled when he told her this and said,

“Of course, dear. However, it’s cold on Earth, especially where Spock is.”

With Sarek’s knowledge of human customs, he could see her intended merit towards sending their son a homemade sweater, but two? There were plenty of places on Earth for Spock to select suitable clothing from.

“Yes, the one you finished was for Spock, but this one,” she gestured to the one she currently held, “is for a cadet at the academy. He’s seemed to take a shine to the jumpers I’ve sent to Spock. Spock wasn’t pleased with the loss of his clothing so I made the cadet his own.”

“Surely rewarding such behaviour will make this cadet repeat such acts of theft?”

She looked at him with an odd expression on her face. Despite all these years together it still took him a moment to understand her expression. He didn’t wish to misinterpret (which usually didn’t turn out well) and so he utilised their bond to ascertain that it was a mixture of pride and sadness. Curious.

“Sarek, Spock has made a friend.”

He wasn’t sure of this to be true, but he gave no rebuttal. A few moments later she added,

“It’s their holidays soon, it’s Earth custom to share gifts.”

“Spock is not of Earth and so would be illogical for others to expect him to adhere to such customs.” He tried, though he knew it was foolish to argue against his wife.

Amanda smiled again and rested her hand against his once more.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“Wait, your Mom made me a jumper?”

“Yes.”

“Really? For me?”

“I don’t understand what you fail to comprehend. She addressed in her message that the garment is intended for you.”

A beat of silence.

“Unless you do not wish to have it?”

“What? No! Back off, Spock!”

At that point, Kirk had clutched the jumper to his chest, as if Spock was going to try and take it off him. Spock raised an eyebrow at him. He didn’t know why Kirk was reacting in this way. That was a very common thought of his as of late.

“What did you get her as a present?” Kirk asked, without looking up from the jumper he was now studying intently. Spock watched, as after a moment, Kirk pulled the jumper on over his head - on top of the jumper he was already wearing. Fascinating.

“I didn’t get her anything.”

“What? Spock!”

“I am not of Earth - therefore I have no reason to follow the Earth custom of sharing gifts at this time.”

“That’s a horrible excuse, Spock! She’s human, you’re half human. Hey, let’s go gift shopping together! It’ll be fun!”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“I never thanked her in person for the jumper she made for me.”

So far, this was the most stressful ‘meet-the-family’ Jim had ever done. And he’d once had to flee such a situation wearing no clothing, on a hotwired hover bike, at 4.15am on a Sunday. It was a long story, and not one he would ever retell with present company.

“You have never met my mother in person before.”

“I know, but I can still feel bad about it, Spock.”

At this, Spock and his father shared a look, which Jim was pretty sure meant “what the hell is this illogical alien meaning”. Ah, how he loved Vulcans. Well. One half-Vulcan. Close enough.  
Spock, who already seemed tense about being in a room with his father, attempted to steer the conversation back to safer waters.

“However, it would be correct to thank Amanda for the gift she gave you. It is of high quality and a useful asset for San Francisco’s cold weather. Likewise is my own sweater that she made me.”

At this, Sarek raised an eyebrow.

“You are incorrect in your assumption, Spock, as I was the one who made the majority of that jumper.”

Spock looked like his father had just grown a second head. Or told everyone he had actual emotions. Or admitted that Sybok existed. Jim simply sat there and wondered what the hell was going on. Thankfully, Amanda came back in just after Spock seemed to regain consciousness.

“Right Jim, I managed to find this. I think you’ll like it.” Amanda had a wicked grin on her seemingly benign face. Both Vulcans managed to look very stoic and scared at the same time. She was clutching what seemed to be a photo album in her hands.

A few hours later, Jim was feeling a lot more comfortable after seeing photos of the rest of Spock’s family in hand-knitted jumpers. Sybok had seemed to turn his into a crop top. Somehow, it worked. He had especially liked the one of Michael and her wife in matching ones. Amanda had even secretly shown him the one she’d taken of her husband from the one time he’d worn his (after Kirk had promised not to tell anyone).

Maybe she’d teach Jim how to knit someday.

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to the book “The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers” by David Wells for the cool number fact.  
> Also thank you to Geckos for the information about knitting! And thank you Tovi for beta-reading :’)
> 
> Kudos and comments appreciated!


End file.
